passport 2590BH / silverado k1500

[d_fortier]

We are currnetly looking at buying a 2590BH and want to verify that we arent about to bite off more than we can chew. The TV is a silverado k1500, extended cab, 4x4, z71 (i think it is the long a box) with the 3.7 rear end( best i can tell from info on the net).If im right this would put the max trailer wieght at 6800 (from the manual), I just wanted to get some idea / opinions on towing (and stopping) saftey. We will be coming from a fleetwood niagara, so it will be a huge change to begin with.

Forgot: we also have a class 3 hitch (i think thats what it is ) rated at 6000lbs and 600 tounge weight. Im assuming this will have to be changed out.

thanks for your time

[Seann]

Whats the weight on the trailer?

[d_fortier]

they are :

•Shipping Weight : 4893
•Carrying Capacity : 2307
•Hitch : 590
•Height : 10' 7
•Fresh Water Capacity (gals) : 30
•Waste Water Capacity (gals) : 30
•Gray Water Capacity (gals) : 30
•LPG Capacity : 40
•Tire Size : 205/75R14C
•Length : 28' 10

I know if we "max it out" we would be past the tow rating but i really cant see us putting 2300lbs in the trailer.

thanks

[Seann]

Remember that the tow rating on your vehicle is with a 150 lb driver and NOTHING else in the truck. You must add the weight of passengers and other stuff you have in the truck as well as what is in the trailer... Also you will be amazed at how fast you can load a trailer beyond its capacity.. Water in the tank alone is over 300 lbs.

[d_fortier]

The gross wieght of the truck is actually almost 12000. the 6800 is the "trailer weight" listed in the book(if im looking at the right listing that is).

[ktosv]

What year is your truck and what engine does it have? Also, where do you live? In flat lands or are you in the mountains somewhere.

I have only towed our trailer about a half dozen times, but so far I am impressed with how my Suburban tows it. I am not going to win any races, but I have been able to manage keeping the torque converter locked in 3rd gear on most all of the hills I have encountered and my tranny temp has never gotten to a temperature that alarms me.

Is that an OEM receiver or is it an aftermarket? The reason I ask is because the OEM on that was on my Suburban was rated for alot more. If it is aftermarket and it was the only receiver on the truck, that means you might not have the towing package depending on the year of your truck.

The 12000# you mention is probably the gross combined weight rating. The weight that your truck and trailer can weigh together.

[Flyguy]

All the info given above is valid and true IMO, the only thing that I can add is that the passport series was designed by Keystone to be towed by 1/2 ton truck based vehicles and you can see by my signature what I'm towing and with what TV and I can say that I have no problems at all.

[slider]

I am towing a 2590BH with a 2001 Dakota Quad cab. I consider it basically a 1/2 ton truck on a smaller frame. I did get rear end geared to 4.10 and converted to positive traction. They tried 3.90 but couldn't get them quiet enough. Truck has small 4.7 V8 (318 I think).

I just towed it about 400 miles from N AL to Destin. It did okay, at about 65 mph, I could keep it around 2300 rpms or under and it didn't seem like it was too much of a problem. Not sure of my gas mileage becasue I screwed up my count, will have to do a better job on way back.

I really wish I had more truck for a long trip like this but my truck is paid for and only has 80,000 mi so it seemed to make more sense for me to modify it some instead of buy another one.

For 1-2 hour trips I think it is going to be no problem at all.

[slider]

Forgot to mention I also added a WDH and brake controller. We made our first trip (20 miles from house) without either - made a huge difference.

[d_fortier]

Thanks for all the replies,
The truck is a 2003, with a 4.8, the hitch is after market Reese (label on it says 6000/600) and we live in CT. It certainly sounds like we should be ok (but may want to switch out the hitch and get a WD system). I how ever made the mistake of calling the Chevy dealer and they told us 5600 lbs max on a trailer?!?!?!? Is there some where we can look up the VIN and get a 100% definent answer? The camper deal tells us we are fine but i dont want to take the chance he is just after a sales. I'd hate to end up making a $25000 mistake and ruin our truck or put someone in danger b/c we shouldnt be towing this much weight.

thanks for your time

[Flyguy]

Here's the towing guide for 2003: http://www.trailerlife.com/images/downloads/03towingguide.pdf lookup your TV and see what trailer life says. If you ever trade TV's I would upgrade to a more capable TV, looks like it will pull it ok but you'll be at the upper edge of it's range.

[d_fortier]

Great guide thank you very much. It seems to confirm what we thought the manual was saying (6700-6800lbs, im not sure if we have a long or short bed, but it is 4x4 with a z71 and extended cab). I'm sure we will upgrade the TV in the future and thats partly what this is about (the see if we needed to do that first)

We love camping but hate the 3 hours+ wasted by haveing a popup (1 1/2 setup and 1 1/2 take down). So we just wanted to see what we could upgrade to safely with the current TV.

[slider]

In addition to the WDH, a brake controller is a must. Costs about $100 and you may have to wire it up if your truck doesn't already have a plug for it but it is relatively simple.

[d_fortier]

We all ready have one that was installed for our niagara. Im assuming it will work with the new trailer as well. Its a tekonsha envoy. Looks just like this one, there doesnt seem to be differant models in this style http://www.amazon.com/Tekonsha-TEKONSHA-Envoy-Brake-Control/dp/B000BGOH02 . It says it is rated for 1 or 2 axles.

[ktosv]

Since you already have the brake controller, will the dealer allow you to take a test tow? That is what we did. I know that the trailer was empty for the tow, but I feel it gave me a good indication as to how it was going to tow. I knew that if I didn't like the way it towed then, that I wasn't going to like it ready to camp. With that being said, fortunately for us the dealer was in an area where I could actually tow up and down some decent hills. I really was surprised at how easy our truck towed the 2910, especially since it is about 2000# heavier then the hybrid we had.

If you end up going with that trailer, you might consider making a couple of modifications/additions to your truck like I did since I knew I was going to be close to my limits. I always have my truck tires aired to the max when towing. I had an auxillary tranny cooler, but I added a temperature gauge so I know exactly what it is doing. If you don't have the cooler, you will definetly need one. I also upgraded to the Prodigy brake controller about two years ago. I used to have the same one that you do, and the difference is night and day. The Prodigy is so much better. You can find them on the internet for around $100.

I can understand your desire for such a trailer. We moved from that hybrid to this trailer and with our first official camping trip with it this Memorial Day weekend the trailer was parked and the site was set up in less than a half an hour. I told my wife I wasn't sure what to do with my free time :) Breaking camp was also much easier.

Good luck with your decision.

[d_fortier]

Thank you all for the feed back and suggestions. I feel much better now know that while we are on the high side we are not over the limit. We also now have a good idea of how much extra will need to go into the purchase for addition upgrade.

thank you for your time
Dan